Table Of ContentCulturally Responsive and
Socially Just Leadership
in Diverse Contexts
From Theory to Action
Ann E. Lopez
Culturally Responsive and Socially Just Leadership
in Diverse Contexts
Ann E. Lopez
Culturally Responsive
and Socially Just
Leadership in Diverse
Contexts
From Theory to Action
Ann E. Lopez
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
University of Toronto
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
ISBN 978-1-137-53338-8 ISBN 978-1-137-53339-5 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-53339-5
Library of Congress Control Number: 2016957868
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F
oreword
Let’s be honest: we educators often pick up and read leadership books to
get new ideas that we can use in our own leadership practices. In doing
so, we want these ideas to be wrapped in ready-made answers. This want,
this very real need, makes some sense, that is, as educators, we are action-
oriented decision-makers. Moreover, the realities of our professional lives
tell us every day that the work we do inside schools is hard, and that time,
a precious resource, is scarce. But if you are looking for confirmation of
what you are already doing in or out of school (or hope to be doing
tomorrow or next year) or for ready-made answers, then this book is not
right for you. Just stop here and put it down.
Reading Ann Lopez is about imagining possibilities. More specifically,
lifelong opportunities that are absent in too many of our public schools
around the world. In this sense, Professor Lopez is following a critical
and cultural research tradition first beginning in leadership by William
Foster, in curriculum by Geneva Gay and Christine Sleeter, in pedagogy
by Paolo Freire and Gloria Ladson-Billings, in teacher education by
Marilyn Cochran-Smith, and in cultural studies by Henry Giroux, among
others. Her work is grounded in culturally responsive practices and social
justice, not unlike the recent works by Floyd Beachum and Carlos McCray
and other education writers whose aims are, quite literally, to redefine
education and in particular the role of school teachers and administra-
tors. But what sets Professor Lopez apart is not only the emancipatory
themes found in this book, but also how she shifts the responsibilities for
school and social change squarely onto the readers’ shoulders, asking us
to name and diagnose the problems we face in schools, and then imagine
v
vi FOREWORD
the possibilities one child at a time. This is not a how-to textbook; rather,
it is a way forward with specific signposts and roadblocks. Your job is to
remove the barriers and design new pathways. From the Preface to the
Conclusion, Professor Lopez introduces readers to a family of theories
grounded in culturally responsive leadership and social justice. Both fami-
lies, for her and for me, stand at the center of school leadership practice.
As such, she does not review empirical studies supporting the way schools
have been and still are. She is not repeating the metanarratives and domi-
nant discourses of governments and business. Rather, she is inviting read-
ers, professionally (see Chaps. 1 through 5) and personally (see Chap.
6) to join her on a career-expanding journey as she explains why schools
should make a difference personally, politically, and educationally. Her two
tacit assumptions are that her readers are already (1) good people, and
(2) good (as in competent and moral) teachers, teacher leaders, or school
administrators. In truth, meeting these two qualitative assumptions is hard
work, but what she and other critical educators are asking/demanding
is that we re-connect schools to communities and to society as a whole
so that diversity and equity are not just school reforms, but also social
reforms. This is harder work. Having engaged in such work myself, I know
that this ask is not always well received by educators, who say, “How can
I possibly fit one more thing into my already crazy busy day?” I hear this
every time I ask for doing more. And yet, as I see it, the obligation of
being a public school educator in today’s world is to educate ourselves
about the real problems in communities and society, from housing, pov-
erty, and violence to underpaid jobs and the future of the next generation.
It is our responsibility to explicitly define success especially for those who
may not have everyday examples of success in their own lives.
This tradition of community problem-solving goes back to the twen-
tieth century and John Dewey who lived and worked through two world
wars, a depression, and a cold war. If you have never read a single word
Dewey wrote, please know this: his faith resides in educators and edu-
cation, a faith strong enough to defeat external enemies whose intent
is to end freedom and democracy. Yes, he became frustrated with the
many failed school reforms throughout the twentieth century, but he
never lost faith in the power of teaching and learning. So whatever you
have heard about John Dewey, I want you to know that his ideas on
learning from experiences, self-reflective practices, diversity, and equal
opportunity for all students were his weapons of choice in solving social
and political problems. For him, all children bring human capital into
FOREWORD vii
schools, regardless of race or wealth. Dewey said all this when he feared
that Nazi Germany might defeat the Allied nations in World War II and
take over our schools. Today, there are freedom-loving citizens all over
the world who are again living in fear and frustration who are angry.
Today’s enemies of freedom may not be nation-states; they are ideolo-
gies that devalue and dehumanize people, especially women and children.
So while numeracy and literacy will always matter, so, too, do character,
humanity, and love, including the love of strangers, that is, people who
are different from us. Our school curricula, as Professor Lopez states
in Chap. 2, involve “the whole environment,” experiences beyond the
teaching and learning of school subjects. And therefore the thesis of the
first chapter is, rightly, dauntless and fearless leadership. Our effort is not
just about doing the work well, being competent, but also about becom-
ing culturally responsive and socially just—qualities that are more than a
list of best practices in classrooms and schools. That is asking a lot from
ourselves and others in education. And for this reason the work gets even
harder and more critical.
Educational leaders have both a responsibility and an obligation
because we have access to power. Whether we use it or not is a question
of courage and risk-taking. Our access to power provides opportunities
for us to insert education into political, social, economic, philosophical,
and literary discourses and debates. To do this, however, we have to learn
how to speak differently both within our profession and also with others
from different professions (and cultures). As educators, our audiences are
not just our fellow educators or our students, but also the world’s citizens
(including refugees and so-called illegal aliens), people from all cultures,
religions, and ideologies. At one time in recent history, educators were
seen as statesmen/women and acted as such. We need to remember and
bring that mindset back into school leadership.
Further, we have a moral responsibility to teach teachers, students, and
community members about the moral use of power. Here, too, we cannot
equate being educated with being schooled. Some observers, including
John Dewey, traveled to Germany to study its notable school system only
to conclude that high numeracy and literacy levels were no guarantees
for creating a great nation/world. Competency is not character. Yes, as
humans, we are imperfect; and yes, the outcomes and consequences of our
planned actions involve that which is unintended and unpredictable. None
of us live and work in a controlled science laboratory. Our work—in and
out of schools—is in the real world.
viii FOREWORD
As such, the work is difficult, more so when it comes to culturally
responsive leadership and social justice. The ask from these two theories-
in- action involves our being present and active in students’ lives, where
they and their families live. The ask calls for our bringing together of
school and community in new and different ways. The key point is that
we have to do this work ourselves, not through state, provincial, or dis-
trict mandates, but as school leaders. The reality is that we never come
to education prepared for this challenge. In Chap. 6, Professor Lopez
describes how she felt at first. “As I reflect on my journey I have developed
and gained a deeper understanding of what it means to navigate complex
school environments. I am supported on this journey by critical friends
and my own commitment not to give up even when the journey becomes
tough. There were moments when I felt powerless and afraid to act, but
I grew stronger in my own sense of agency and commitment. Culturally
responsive leadership and social justice leadership is a process that involves
continuous learning and unlearning, that raises complex questions about
the roles and responsibilities of school leaders. The tension between learn-
ing and unlearning, and realigning one’s professional identity between old
and new, is an important story to tell by educational leaders.”
It is in this personal/professional self-reflection that we see the gist
of the many contemporary criticisms made against what are called neo-
liberal policies and market forces. These are terms thrown around by aca-
demics, not by practitioners and citizens. But what it means to Professor
Lopez is that unless educators take back schooling, its curriculum, and our
school leadership from external authorities, our thoughts and actions will
be driven by others out of compliance and fear—of losing one’s job. We
become paradoxically powerless to act as culturally responsive and social
justice leaders. We become managerial in the sense of working long hours
to maintain the existing school and district cultures by following pathways
and practices that are already in place. And in so doing, we lose the right to
call our practice leadership. Our daily choices are safe choices, doing what
others want us to do; our judgments are put on hold; school improve-
ment becomes student achievement, which becomes raising test scores;
learning becomes knowledge transmission not curiosity and inquiry. This
is more than the clichéd slippery slope. This is the negation of educa-
tion, the negation of being human, of making professional judgments and
of learning from mistakes. To read Professor Lopez is to open ourselves
up to rethinking the meanings and possibilities for school leadership. She
reminds us in Chap. 2 that “School leaders are under tremendous pressure
FOREWORD ix
to respond to the growing diversity in schools that have become a mir-
ror into the social changes that are taking place in society. Schools have
become cultural spaces where dialogue and discourse occurs and repre-
sent the contradictions of society where understanding and meanings are
teased out at the same time tensions are explored”.
Again in Chap. 6 Lopez personalizes these challenges: “I was not fully
prepared as a racial minority to traverse the difficult and tension-filled
conversations about race that often occur in schools (Cho, 2011). I had
not anticipated the feelings of pain and trauma that such moments would
evoke. At times I felt angry and anxious and worn down by the racist atti-
tudes toward me from some staff members. Sometimes racial minorities are
afraid of expressing how we feel and the impact of racism in schools because
we are fearful of being accused of playing the race card and suppress the
pain we feel. It is important, however, to examine and theorize and come
to an understanding of ways to be empowered and carry on the work”.
In conclusion, I ask you to see how Professor Lopez uses the word
“theory” as a dynamic theory-in-action. In this sense, we live and breathe
theory; we don’t gaze at it from afar. Social justice, as the term implies, is
quite literally “social” as in our many relationships with others. I know that
educators get hung up on definitions—as we do with the terms standards,
benchmarks, objectives, and goals. But in today’s world, more than ever
before, we need to embrace pluralism, diversity, and imaginative possibili-
ties. Thus, social justice is meant to be a deliberate intervention to solve
real-world problems, correct accidents and circumstances (e.g., demogra-
phy/zip codes as destiny), be inclusive of everyone everywhere, disrupt
injustices, and most of all be measured by consequences (i.e., material
differences), rather than by our good intentions or sincere caring. Social
justice is meant to make a material difference in people’s everyday lives.
And, as such, social justice is a necessary educational idea in the real world.
Questioning and unpacking versus answering
and unwrapping
Leadership means many things to each of us: from school improvement
to social change; from knowledge transmission to transformative learning
and curriculum inquiry, a matter of a life worth living (self-reflection). A
moral commitment to others especially those minors in our care—there
can be no greater injustice than an adult who does harm to children and
adolescents.
x FOREWORD
so that we can rethink our own notions
oF Leadership
What are we to make of scholars who say that neo-liberal policies and
politics are destroying public education? For one thing, the notion of neo-
liberal is affixed to certain policies that originate outside of education, but
which have been embraced wittingly and unwittingly by educators. Some
scholars see bogeymen in competition, entrepreneurship, market forces …
but why have these human and cultural traits/behaviors been demonized
by critical and liberal writers? My dispute is with any policy that hinders
educators from thinking for themselves and acting both on their experi-
ences in classrooms and life and their professional education… to separate
education from thinking trivializes the possibilities and potential of human
beings. One need not have grand ideas to simply want to act in accordance
with his or her own judgments. And through those judgments keep an
open mind to better ideas, better ways of behaving (toward one another).
Ira Bogotch
Florida Atlantic University
Boca Raton, FL, USA
